1. Field of the Invention
The present inventive subject matter relates to the formation of cheese sticks and string cheese, particularly of the pasta filata type.
2. Background
Natural cheese, particularly of the pasta filata family (including but not limited to mozzarella, provolone, or blends thereof) have plastic or elastic qualities that make it pliable for molding when heated (typically between 120 F to 160 F). At the same time, pliability in this heated state prevents the cheese from being self supporting (independently hold its own weight and shape).
For purposes of packaging cheese with a prescribed shape, specifically pasta filata type cheeses, it is necessary that the external layer of a formed piece of cheese be sufficiently cool to hold its own shape and weight while the internal warmer portions be cool enough not to reheat and deform the external layer (otherwise known in the industry as “slumping”). This stage of cooling is called “setting”. Once a piece of cheese has set, it is able to independently maintain a prescribed shape (“self supporting”) and hence be ready for packaging and shelving.
Large scale production of string cheese or cheese sticks follow a multi-step process in the current art. A typical method of producing mozzarella type string cheese is discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,792,497, where a nascent warm mass of cheese is extruded through a die with circular holes, creating ribbons of cheese of preferred shape or dimension. The extruded cheese being still warm and sticky is further buoyed in a cooling medium such as brine solution bath to properly set. The set cheese is then cut to size. Although the dies could have other shaped holes, the fact that the cheese is still in its warm molten state at the time of extrusion through the die makes it very difficult for the cheese to maintain shape for the remaining steps of the long process. For this reason, the round shape remains the standard shape for practical purposes. U.S. Pat. No. 4,112,835 describes an alternative method for molding string cheese where highly elastic warm cheese is conveyed by an auger onto a chamber. Empty molds of preferred shape and dimension pass over the chamber where the warm cheese is pressed into the mold. The filled molds are then chilled to a preferred temperature. The product is then released into a secondary brine bath for final cooling. Still a third method, as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,626,439 provides for slicing or trimming cheese to size after initial processes of rolling into flat sheets and cooling to set in separate brine bath. In any case, current methods of large scale cheese stick production require separately staged steps for portioning, shaping, and cooling the cheese. Separate staging of each step delays actual cooling of individual cheese products, thus begging the need for rapid cooling in mass to accommodate fast high volume demand.
This multi-stepped technique of separately portioning, shaping and cooling the cheese results in substantial loss of time and space as well as loss of inherent desirable qualities within the cheese. Extensive floor space is required to accommodate each separate step of the process. The cheese sticks quickly lose their shape when released too soon into the brine bath channels and allowed to travel unguided. The channel flow and floating mass of sticks tends to create “log jams” and a high percentage of the sticks are bent or deformed. Sticks that are too bent are culled and sent back through the entire process, affecting flavor and texture of the final batch. Extensive time submersed in brine solution further results in substantial loss of butterfat, uneven salting of the cheese, misshapen form from impact with other surfaces and increased risk of contamination.
A great deal of money and energy is spent by cheese manufacturers to manage cheese byproducts and to maintain clean brine solution. The initial steps of forming cheese by extrusion tends to excessively work the cheese, cutting into cheese fibers and internal pockets that naturally retain fat, moisture and flavor. Moisture and butterfat forced from the cheese by the high pressure extrusion process finds its way into the brine solution. This loss of moisture and butterfat content causes substantial decrease in quality of flavor and overall mass of the cheese. Over time, the chilled butterfat coagulates and floats through the brining channels plugging up channel flumes. Unmanaged butterfat trapped within brine channels become a source for bacterial and pathogenic contamination. Moisture naturally released from brined cheese further dilutes the brine solution, causing overflow of the flumes. The excess brining liquid must be periodically disposed of while the remaining solution is recalibrated for proper chemical concentration. Special treatment of the brine waste is needed since salt brine is considered hazardous waste. Despite the costliness of this process, brine cooling remains the popular method for mass cooling of cheese products since current techniques cannot cool and set cheese fast enough on an individual basis to accommodate high volume manufacture demands.
Cheese forming techniques applied at the high volume manufacture level does not reflect best practices in the art of cheese making. True artisanship requires the nascent cheese mass be stretched and separated by pulling and pinching methods, not by extrusion or cutting. Salting and seasoning of the cheese should ideally occur at initial stages of cooking and not by immersion in salty brine after ideal texture and flavor has been achieved. Molding of the cheese requires proper setting before release to the external environment so as to minimize deformation. In view of the foregoing, there remains a considerable need for inventive solutions that improves upon the quality and efficiency of cheese production at the high volume level.
All patents and applications referred herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety. Furthermore, where a definition or use of a term in a reference, which is incorporated by reference herein is inconsistent or contrary to the definition of that term provided herein, the definition of that term provided herein applies and the definition of that term in the reference does not apply.